“mother Says There Are Locked Rooms Inside Us. Sometimes, The Men – They Come With Keys, And Sometimes,

“My parents are very selfish and I have to thank them for that because I’m selfish enough not to have children. Because they were so self-involved, for most of my life I’ve wandered around like a kid lost at a mall just screaming “mommy!”, “daddy!”. I didn’t talk to my father for years but it solved nothing ‘cause I was living in the anger. At some point you’re just gonna have to realize that they’re not going to be the parents you want them to be. That window has closed. You’re going to have to accept them the way that they are and learn how to parent yourself.“

Marc Maron (via catbean715)

allroundlostcause said: 

My best advice would be to read, a lot, because reading is your fuel. Read critically. Read good stuff and bad stuff and decide what is distinct about them. When you read a sentence you love, write it out, analyse it, and ask yourself why it’s so precious. DON’T skim read; if you find yourself doing that, you’re missing too much. Read out loud instead.

Write drabbles (short scenes which might never make it into your writing) to explore characters. Ask yourself questions about them that you don’t need answers for in the book. Think about them. Are they a cat person or a dog person? It’s not enough to have the answer, you also need to know why. What drives them? What makes their voice unique?

You need to know what your characters want, and which of those desires matters for your story, and which of those desires is going to get in the way. If they want to be good but they’re ultimately selfish, when will that trip them up? If they want to be reckless but they crave security, how is this going to prevent them from doing what they have to?

When you read, consider what makes a character feel rounded out, and study story structure. Well-written stories often have a solid structure under them which is almost invisible until you think critically; but it drives tension and movement.

Last but definitely not least, have fun. Why don’t you like your writing? If you’re new to it, then it will come, with loads of practice (most of which never goes anywhere) and learning to love the process itself, the creation of worlds. If you’re not having fun, and if you don’t value the process, and crave the practice, you will probably never throw yourself into it in the way you need to to really get amazing at it.

Who are you and why are doing awake this early on a Saturday? Thank you for the addition, is better than the original answer.

Another advice coming from this: Your current mood will affect your writing, being in a bad/sad mood won’t help when writing a happy scene, unless it comes from nostalgia.

L.-

This is me tossing a vague shrug in the direction of “fanfic isn’t real writing” argument because it’s based on a misunderstanding of genre.

Fanfic is its own genre with its own conventions from how fics are sorted: have you ever seen a lit magazine categorize a short story as ‘fluff’? Because I haven’t and you never see fics categorized by bookshop genres either.

Fic has its own rules around the expectation of conflict. You can write a 70 000 word fic in which there is no conflict. I never have but it could be done. I have a 40 000 word smut fic where NOTHING happens but it flies as fic because the rules for fic are different. 

Fic has its own rules around interacting and commenting: “I hate you and I want to die” is pretty nearly the highest compliment that you can receive on a fic but is not something I could see myself writing in a letter to my favourite author.  

Fic is writing in its own culture.

If someone says “fanfic isn’t real writing” to you then they’re telling you that they don’t understand fanfic and no amount of meticulously researched writing is going to change their mind. Your writing being perfect won’t change their mind.

When “those people” talk about fic, they will forever be talking about stuff like My Immortal and never about stuff like Speranza or dirgewithoutmusic or (for an in-fandom writer) metawohoo. They don’t care about the best that fic has to offer. They’re looking for a reason to reduce the entire thing down to “teenage girls are weird - look at the weird thing they’re doing” 

So why bother appeasing them?

Writing Prompts to Get to Know Your Characters Better

I’ve created a list of 48 different scene prompts to get more familiar with your characters and their relationships, that are more fun (in my opinion) than lists of deep questions to ask yourself about them. Feel free to do as many (or as few) if you want. If you answer any, please tag me!

Individual Characters

Write a description of them from the point of view of their best friend or a person who has a crush on them.

Write a description of them from the point of view of a person who absolutely hates them.

Write their earliest or favorite memory.

Design what their Instagram page would look like. (Yes, even if they’re from a time when they don’t have Instagram.)

Write their death scene, even if you’re not planning on killing them within the piece.

Alternatively, write them a eulogy or obituary.

Your character is in high school, and has become valedictorian and has to give a speech at graduation. Write it.

Write a letter of recommendation for this character. For what? I don’t care. Write it.

Your character has a YouTube channel. Write the script for their most watched video.

Write the notes written on the doctor or therapist’s clipboard after a meeting with the character.

Your character has been arrested. Write the news posting.

What song did your character make an embarrassing dancing video to as a child?

Your character has become a celebrity and is on a talk show, telling the story of a traumatic childhood memory…

One-On-One Friendships

First meeting scene has been done so many times. Write the first fight instead.

Write a series of text conversations between the two.

How would they behave at an elementary school sleepover?

One friend has been detained–arrested, grounded, detention, you choose–and the other is trying to convince the detainer to let them out.

The two decide to enter the school talent show, solely for the $50 Cheesecake Factory gift card prize.

For whatever reason, they must pretend to be siblings. Bonus points if they are different races or just look nothing alike.

One friend got evicted, and has to live with the other for a week.

They’ve been working on a joint bucket list since they became close. Write the list.

One is extremely drunk and the other must stop them, as they have decided that now is the time when they just have to…

Your characters reunite in a nursing home in their 90s after not having seen each other for at least a decade.

A creep hits on one of them, and as friends do, they pretend they’re dating to ward off said creep. Only problem? Said creep keeps showing up.

The maid of honor/best man speech.

Friend Groups

They’ve been in a car together for 6 hours on a road trip, and someone tries the dreaded “Are we there yet?”.

A group picture goes horribly wrong. Write the scene– or draw the picture if you’re a visual artist.

It’s middle school. There’s a snow day. Everyone goes sledding. And then…

Compile the memes that are most commonly sent in the group chat.

They discover one of them has never seen Star Wars. Write the following discourse and movie marathon.

Look up “Most likely to” challenges on YouTube, write down the best questions, and use them with the group. Even better, write a scene where the group is using them with each other.

Write your characters as overly passionate PTA members planning the next school fundraiser.

One of them goes out of town, and the group has to watch their house/plants/pet/kid while they’re gone.

A member of the group was minorly wronged. Everyone decides to enact petty revenge.

The wedding was going so well, until the rest of the friends decided to make the reception a little more interesting.

One friend works at a restaurant. The rest decide to eat there while the friend is working. Describe how the group gets the friend fired in one night.

For whatever reason, nobody can go home for Thanksgiving. They decide to have Thanksgiving together instead.

Romantic Relationships

Write a breakup scene. Doesn’t matter if they’re not going to break up in your piece.

Write the moments when they each knew.

One’s meeting the other’s parents for the first time, and accidentally lets slip that…

The siblings/friends scheming together about how to get the two to date without being creepy.

Write the stupidest argument they’ve ever had.

What text message conversation is framed in their apartment/house?

Somehow kill one of them, and let the other react.

It’s Valentine’s Day. The couple goes out to eat, when both of their exes walk in… with each other.

The Mario Kart match neither of them is allowed to talk about.

They’re not speaking. Write the development of the fight only through conversations with the buffer friend.

Write a proposal scene, even if you’re not planning on them getting married in your piece.

They return to the place where they first met/kissed/dated. Somehow, the place has been changed, and not for the better.

The Counselors Are In

In which Steve and Tony from Avengers Assemble open a counseling service for all the Steves and Tonys across the multiverse. God knows they need it. To celebrate #10yearsofstevetony ♥

“But Tony, doesn’t it seem like meddling?” Steve chewed at the corner of his lip. “Maybe the other versions of us won’t want to listen to what we have to say.”

“We are pretty stubborn, I’m sure that’s true in every universe,” Tony said with a grin. “But I’ve seen some of the places they come from. Things are not good there. They need our help, Steve.”

Steve heart swelled at the care Tony had for everyone, even if they were from a different universe. “You’re right, honey. Come on then. Let’s do this.”

“Okay,” Tony called out, taking his hand, matching wedding bands sat atop each other. “Send the first pair in.”

MCU (Earth-199999)

“Have you two ever spent any time together outside of a mission?” Tony asked, eyeing them strangely.

“Uhh. There was that one time we got shawarma,” Grumpy Steve said.

“That was right after a mission and you were half asleep. That doesn’t count,” Grumpy Tony said snappishly.

“So you’ve never actually… hung out? As friends? Like, at all?” Tony asked, seeming genuinely perplexed.

“Well. When you put it like that, not really, no,” Grumpy Steve admitted.

“I think we may have discovered the root of your issues,” Steve said with a sigh. “Why not try talking to each other, for god’s sake?”

“Because he hates me,” both Grumpy Steve and Grumpy Tony wailed in unison.

“He really doesn’t,” Steve and Tony both said firmly.

Keep reading

In case nobody’s told you today, you’re worthy. You’re valid. I’m glad you exist

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Women have more power and agency in Shakespeare’s comedies than in his tragedies, and usually there are more of them with more speaking time, so I’m pretty sure what Shakespeare’s saying is “men ruin everything” because everyone fucking dies when men are in charge but when women are in charge you get married and live happily ever after

身から出た錆（みからでたさび）

《意味》 「身から出た錆」とは、自分の犯した言動が原因で、苦しんだり災いを受けたりすること。

《英語》 You reap what you sow/You’ve made your bed (and now you’ll have to lie in it)

直訳：Rust coming out from the body.

《例文》 いいかげんな仕事をしてるから、左遷されちゃうんだよ。身から出た錆だね。 →You reap what you sow. If you do sloppy work, you’ll find yourself sliding down the corporate ladder.

彼の身勝手さは身から出た錆となるだろう。 →His selfishness will come home to roost some day.

《解説》 You reap what you sowとは「自分で蒔いた種は自分で刈れ」の意味。sloppy「いい加減な」。「左遷される」の表現の仕方にも注目。

to come home to roost =〈悪い事が〉自分にはね返ってくる。

英語の諺：The chickens come home to roost（因果応報）

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